HORTICULTURISTS 



HORTICULTURISTS 



1571 



Prom that time until his death he served the Ameri- 

 can public with a keen, observing and analytical mind 

 possessed by few men. For twenty-five years he 

 studied the merits and faults of all sorts of vegetables 

 and flowers. Tens of thousands of trials came under 

 his observation every year. The best of European and 

 American seed-breeders' efforts had to pass his critical 

 decisions, and out of this tremendous "sifting" process 

 rose scores of meritorious varieties of vegetables and 

 flowers, the names of which have since become house- 

 hold words with planters throughout the country. 



Adolph Kruhm. 



Dartt, Edward Harvey Schuler, nurseryman, was 

 born at W'eathersfield, Vermont, November 24, 1824, 

 and died at Owatonna, Minnesota, January 31, 1903. 

 At the age of twenty, he moved from Vermont to Ripon, 

 Wisconsin, where he attended college and taught school. 

 About 1S60 he moved to Kingston, Wisconsin, and 

 engaged in general merchandising, holding at the same 

 time the offices of postmaster and justice of the peace. 

 In 1869 he removed to Owatonna, Minnesota, where 

 he remained until his death. He engaged at once in 

 the nursery business and continued in it more or less 

 the rest of his hfe. He was one of the early members 

 of the State Horticultural Society, and in 1889 was 

 maile an honorary life member for conspicuous efforts 

 along horticultural fines. 



In 1891 the Owatonna Tree Station was established 

 by act of the legislature and Mr. Dartt was made its 

 superintendent and continued in this capacity until 

 his death. He conducted many experiments here and 

 raised thousands of seedlings, contributing much to 

 the horticultural knowledge of the state by his efforts. 

 He was always active in the meetings of the society and 

 nmch of the early advancement in horticulture in 

 Minnesota is due to Mr. Dartt. He laid out and main- 

 tained a pubfic park at his own expense for many years 

 and was always interested in civic improvements in 

 the town. He delighted to WTite short articles on civic 

 and horticultural affairs for the press and in this way 

 helped to mold public opinion. Lj; Roy Cady. 



Deane, Rev. Samuel, poet and agricultural writer, 

 was born at Dedham, Massachusetts, .July 30, 1733, 

 and died at Falmouth (now Portlaml), Maine, Novem- 

 ber 12, 1814, where he had been pastor since October 

 17, 1764. While vice-president of Bowdoin College, 

 he pubUshed, in 1790, his "New England Farmer, or 

 Georgical Dictionary," the first American encyclo- 

 pedic work on agriculture. This had a much wider 

 circulation, probably, than Jared Ehot's "Essays upon 

 Field-Husbandry," 1747. Its influence may be traced 

 to the middle of the present century. Deane's work was 

 freely quoted by F. G. Fessenden until his death, in 

 1837. The second edition, 1797, was entitled "The 

 Georgical Dictionary." A third edition was pubfished 

 in 1822. 



Deane and Eliot were the chief writers in that early 

 stage of American horticulture when it was hardly 

 important enough to be considered distinct from general 

 agriculture. For biographical details, see Drake's 

 "Dictionary of American Biogi-aphy." 



Dearborn, Henry Alexander Scammell, soldier, 



statesman and author (1783-1851), was also an ardent 

 horticulturist. He was a moving spirit in the organiza- 

 tion of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and 

 was elected its first president March 17, 1829. He was 

 partly instrumental in the establishment of an "experi- 

 mental garden and cemetery at Mount Auburn," the 

 parent of rural cemeteries. The plan of the ceme- 

 tery was largely his. He "devoted himself to this 

 work most assiduously," wTites the chronicler of 

 the society, "spending the greater part of the autumn 

 [1831] at Mount Auburn, in laboring with hands as 

 well as mind, without money and without price." The 



Abb6 Berlese's "Monography of the Camellia" was 

 translated by him, and pubUshed in Boston in 1838. He 

 also translated from the French, in 1830, an account of 

 the since famous Miirux mullicaulis. He left MS. 

 writings on horticulture. For notes on his horticultural 

 labors, see "History of the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society," 1880, which contains a portrait; also John B. 

 Russel in Tilton's "Journal of Horticulture," 7:88, 1.57, 

 276. Gen. H. A. S. Dearborn was son of Gen. Henry 

 Dearborn, of Revolutionary and later fame. L. H. B. 



Dempsey, Peter C, pomologist and hybridist, wa-s 

 of Uniteti Empire Loyafist stock and was heir to the 

 orchard and nursery left by his father at Albury, 

 Prince Edward County, Ontario. About the year 1867, 

 Mr. Dempsey decided that he would devote his fife 

 to horticulture, and especially to the cultivation of the 

 apple. In 1859, he united with the Fruit Growers' 

 Association of Ontario and being a pleasing and fluent 

 speaker, full of information drawn from practical 

 experience, he soon became a highly valued member and 

 was elected vice-president in 1873 and again in 1875; 

 and president in 1880 and again in 1881. In 1775, he 

 was selected by the Ontario Department of Agriculture 

 to superintend the Ontario fruit-exhibit at the Centen- 

 nial exhibition in Philadelphia, and secured several 

 medals for its excellence. But it is as a hybridist that 

 Mr. Dempsey is most widely known among horticul- 

 turists, having originated among other novelties the 

 Burnet grape, the Dempsey potato and the Trenton 

 apple. His death occurred in August, 1892, at Albury. 



LiNDS WOOLVERTON. 



Dixon, John N., pomologist, was born in Fayette 

 County, Pennsylvania, on February 20, 1821, and died 

 in 1883. When quite young, his parents moved to 

 Ohio, and here at the age of twenty-two, he set out an 

 orchard of 1,100 trees, a large orchard for those days. 

 In 1855 he went to Iowa, e.xpecting to make fruit- 

 growing liis specialty, but on account of the cold 

 winters and tender varieties, lost most of his trees. He 

 persisted, however, and in 1868 started the present 

 orchard of 12,000 acres, of which he made a great suc- 

 cess. He is said to have been the first man to use 

 insecticides in the form of spray in a commercial way 

 in fruit plantations. 



Dorner, Frederick, florist, was born at SchiUtach, 

 Baden, Germany, on November 29, 1837. At the age 

 of seventeen he emigrated to this country and joined 

 his brother at Lafayette, Indiana, where he lived until 

 his death, December 29, 1910. In 1870, after being 

 employed at various occupations, he rented a small 

 farm and became a market-gardener. In the small 

 greenhouse on the place, he began raising potted plants 

 for the rotail market. In 1888 he became interested in 

 some experiments in the breeding of carnations, which 

 were being conducted at Purdue University. He 

 quickly .saw- the possibilities of the work and became so 

 deeply interested that he took up this line of work 

 himself. From the first lot of seedlings, raised in 1889 

 and numbering about 500, came the varieties Christina 

 Dorner, Tecumseh, Hoosier, Mrs. Harrison, Indiana, 

 and Ben Hur. His work continued uninterruptedly 

 for twenty-one years and during this time he grew over 

 150,000 .seedlings. Of this number not more than seven- 

 ty-five ever reached the market, .\mong the best of 

 his productions were Mad. Diaz Albertini, Wm. Scott, 

 Mrs. G. M. Bradt, White Cloud, Lady Bountifid, White 

 Perfection, Pink Delight, and Wliit<' Wonder. Fred 

 Dorner was the first florist in the Middle West to dis- 

 bud carnations. The method of sup))orting carnations 

 by means of wires and cross strings also originated 

 with him. His work, however, was not limited to carna- 

 tions. He was also the originator of a number of good 

 chrysanthemums of which Major Bonnaffon, dissemin- 

 ated in 1894, was the best. y, jj, Dorneh. 



